“His star shined as bright as Cooper Flagg”: Sports broadcaster heaps praise for Duke’s Kon Knueppel

In a panel discussion of the upcoming NBA Draft, a trio of CBS Sports broadcasters considered the NBA fate of Duke's Kon Knueppel. The downside for Knueppel might be that it's hard to bring him up without talking about his more celebrated teammate, all-but-guaranteed No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg.

Studio host Chris Hassel acknowledged those comparison, but noted that "at times, his star shined as bright as Cooper's." He then asked Adam Finkelstein about Knueppel's NBA Draft situation, which provided some moments of clarity.

Knueppel's "ability to blend in with other good players" key to Draft rise

"Specifically in that ACC Tournament, when Cooper went down with the injury, Kon stepped up and you got a snapshot of what he might have been if he didn't play on the same team with Cooper Flagg all season long. But the reason why NBA executives really like him is his ability to blend in with other good players, which is what we saw the vast majority of the season. That speaks to his ability to acclamate to an NBA style of play, when everybody on the floor is going to be a very good player.... That's why you're starting to see Kon Knueppel get a little bit of traction even higher up these mock drafts, because he's someone who can step in and make an impact right away."-- Adam Finkelstein

Indeed, Knueppel's instant playability is a big key to his success. Playing in the shadow of Flagg, he averaged 14.4 points per game and shot 41% from 3-point range.

The ACC Tournament mentioned by Finkelstein may be key to understanding Knueppel, because for the first time all year, he played without Flagg, who was injured midway through the first half of the opening game that Duke played in the Tournament. So with something like 2 2/3 games without Flagg, Knueppel averaged 21 points per game in the tourney.

Admittedly, Knueppel's vaunted 3-point shooting took a mild hit without Flagg, as he shot 5-for-16 (31%) during that run. But his overall game was unaffected, as Knueppel also grabbed 5.7 boards per game and dished 4.7 assists per game, up from his season averages of 4.0 and 2.7, respectively.

While some NBA Draft prospects like Rutgers standouts Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper might have potentially higher NBA ceilings than Knueppel, neither has proven an ability to thrive with top players, as he did with Flagg. CBS Sports has ranked Knueppel as its No. 6 NBA Draft prospect, but moments like Finkelstein's suggest he could go even higher in the draft.

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